What does your arthritic hip actually feel like?

Hi @BJG

My hip pain goes all over the place.

I can't sit, stand or lie down for more than about 5 minutes and I can't sleep.

I gave up being able to walk any further than the local shop and if I need to walk up an incline, I don't. My 10,000 steps a day went out of the window a long time ago but apparently they've now said walking 2,000 steps plus a day is just as good.

The pain starts at my groin and goes all the way round to my bottom and down my leg, that sometimes feels like it is a cold pain.

It is a constant pain that makes me feel sick and makes me not want to eat - sometimes I don't eat vdery healthily as I can't stand to cook. My healthy regime will kick back in when my hip is fixed in May.

I'm lucky that my physio from MSK told me she would refer me to the local private hospital under the NHS choices scheme as they had a shorter waiting list so my surgery will happen after only six months since I was first seen and since then I have had 3 x rays and an injection. I couldn't wait years for the NHS to get to see me.

I sleep with a shaped cusion between my knees/thigh and am supposed to put a pillow between my lower legs ( I'm a side sleeper) but the pillow ends up on the floor for me to fall over lol.

I've given up trying to get back to sleep when the pain wakes me, I go downstairs, have a hot chocolate and do some of my jigsaw puzzle for half an hour or so and then usually get back to sleep. The act of moving about actually eases some of the pain in the middle of the night.

Roll on May

Trish xx

@BJG I think it is different for everyone. I think that my hip is probably nearly bone on bone but I am not in that much pain and sometimes don't even take paracetamol. If I sit for too long standing up is difficult and sometimes after exercise there is more pain usually just around the hip itself. There is very rarely pain in the groin but sometimes there is discomfort around the knee and I think this is because of the way I am walking as everything is imbalanced. The range of movement is very limited and walking is becoming more difficult. I use walking poles if I am going to go any distance. I keep moving and go to several exercise classes a week and take supplements. I saw a GP a few months ago who said, based on the report, that he was surprised I can even walk! Not very helpful I thought.

Walking uphill is very difficult now even with poles and unfortunately there are lots of hills/slopes around here. There is more back pain/discomfort now, presumably because everything is out of alignment.

I have resisted having a hip replacement for a long time but I think it will have to be done this year. I am hoping to be able to get to Greece and India before I have it done but am aware this may not be possible (especially India). I know a lot of people struggle to get out of the house so it seems wrong to complain about not being able to go to India but to me this is important and if I can't get away and do things then I would be very depressed. I have huge anxiety about having a replacement done -about the operation itself and about how I would manage after as I live on my own and very little help is offered.

I am seeing a consultant privately in April and will ask about a steroid injection just to buy me a bit more time but it may be too late for that so it will be a question of when I have the op (in a private hospital on the NHS)

Relate to all the previous posts. Pain from OA in hip can radiate down the legs, into the groin, into the buttock. Sitting down became very painful, sleeping in a comfortable position became challenging. Approx 5 months before my surgery (I’m 8 weeks post hip replacement) I had to stop working. I was only very part time as a support worker (I’m a retired nurse) but realised some of my clients were more able bodied than I was! Total hip replacement is transformational, and has given me my life back. I tried steroid injections, physio etc alongside pain management. Please don’t wait too long if that’s what you need, and push for referral to an orthopaedic team. That was my biggest challenge. Once the orthopaedic consultant saw me the hip replacement was on cards.

Iwas diagnosed with osteoarthritis last April but since Christmas the symptoms have progressed so quickly that now it’s difficult to walk. hip constantly makes a terrible noise.

on urgent hip replacement list but living with this is a nightmare. Sitting is painful as is getting out of chair .

I feel a bit sick with the pain today. My sleep pattern is disrupted due to burning groin pain and knee pain. I can identify with comments here. Does anyone find a hot water bottle on groin helps?

I’ve been suffering with hip arthritis ( also in my left foot) for years, been on the NHS waiting list for nearly 3 years , I have finally had a date for my op! May 1st , I suffer with groin pain back pain sometimes the pain radiates down to my knee, no two days are the same, I find it affects me more when I’m in bed, I can’t tolerate NSAID’s so I’m on Co Codamol 15/500 mg as the 30/500mg make me nauseous, I’ve got everything crossed that this op goes ahead and I can get my life back to some sort of normality .

i have had arthritic hip pain for 3 years I have found magnesium cream brilliant for any muscle pain ..its quite expensive £8 a tube but you use it sparingly also frankincense oil is a great pain reliever rubbed in to the affected joint. I have to go the alternative route as I am unable to take anti inflams.

Hello. I can totally relate to the groin pain. That's where my hip arthritis first appeared. Very confusing as yes you think it would be the hip. Hills are also a nemesis for me.

Awaiting the MSK dept for an initial appointment.

@BJG

I can totally relate to all those symptoms and like you found it difficult to undestand why l was having ever changing pains throughout my hips, back groin, knees, shins and ankles and even in my toes when it is artritis of the hips, l thought that it must be something else. It was only when l joined this marvelous group that l found so many other people with rhe same or similar pains that l accepted it. I am 11 days post op now on my first hip and for the most part those pains have gone on that side. In addition so far l have found the intensity of the pain in the unoperated hip has decreased, l still have the bone crunching but that is to be expected. I hope you are in the system for treatment.

@Norny do you have NHS choices in NI? I was referred here in the UK in march (second referral as I was too scared to go ahead first time) and my surgeon has said I'm in in November for THR.

With the NHS choices my neighbour was referred to a private hospital within 6 months and had her THR 4 weeks ago.

It's worth pestering your GP because it's something like £20k here (maybe a bit less not sure) and that's an awful lot of money in today's economic climate.